A shoplifting incident at a local store led Miami Springs police to a major counterfeit bust.
It all started with what police allege was the theft of a $15 bottle of wine. In the video narrated by Miami Springs Police Chief, Matthew Castillo, you can see a male subject take a bottle of wine to a concealed area of the store, where Castillo alleges the subject hides the bottle of wine in his pants and then leaves the store.
Police were able to identify a vehicle tied to the shoplifting incident. With that information, they were able to track the vehicle to a nearby hotel.
Inside the hotel room, Miami Springs Police were able to detain the brother of the man alleged to have stolen the wine bottle. However, inside the hotel room, “in plain view” Chief Castillo described a scene that looked like a “Best Buy” store. “There were Apple products everywhere…” according to Chief Castillo, “still inside their packages.”
A further inspection of the products revealed that everything was counterfeit according to the Chief. The police then conducted surveillance of the hotel room, where “one by one,” the police arrested individuals in possession of the same counterfeit Apple products.
However, despite the initial arrests, police had yet to detain the individual associated with the initial wine shoplifting. The good news was, the police had information that the vehicled associated with the original shoplifting incident was located in Miami Beach. MSPD reached out to the Miami Beach Police Department for assistance and they quickly responded by locating the vehicle. According to Chief Castillo, the suspect from the initial wine bottle theft then attempted to sell the counterfeit goods to undercover Miami Beach Police Officers. Obviously, the individual was subsequently arrested.
In total, five suspects were arrested from what initially started as just a $15 wine bottle theft.
We want to thank the Miami Springs Police Department and the investigative unit for their due diligence that led to this counterfeit theft ring bust. Well done.
If you see anything suspicious, never hesitate to contact Miami Springs Police at 305.888.9711.
